Sunday 29 March 2009

Background

Today is Passion Sunday and the start of Passiontide, which istraditionally the two weeks before Easter when the suffering (inLatin 'passio') of Christ is remembered by the Church.

The festival referred to in our reading is the Jewish Passover, andpeople from far and wide are gathering in Jerusalem to celebratehow God once liberated the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt.This foundational event is to be remembered (according to Exodus 14) inevery household through the eating of a special meal - known as the'seder' - of roast lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

The chapters that follow (John 13-17) recordhow Jesus and his disciples will be sharing in just such a specialmeal, although - unlike the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke - nodirect reference is made to the institution of the Lord's Supperduring this meal.

The visiting crowds have already enthusiastically welcomed Jesusinto Jerusalem, waving palm leaves and hailing him as king (John 12:12-19).Many are excited by hearing that he has miraculously raised hisfriend, Lazarus, from the dead (John 11:38-44).Alongside this outburst of euphoria however, opposition to Jesushas been steadily mounting and, even before his triumphal entryinto Jerusalem, many of the Jewish religious leaders wanted himdead (John11:45-57). Indeed, they were even contemplating having Lazarusput back to death (John 12:9-11).Things had become so difficult for Jesus and his disciples thatbefore going up to Jerusalem they had withdrawn for a time to atown called Ephraim.

Whilst Jesus and his first disciples were Jewish, John's Gospel waswritten mainly for those later Christians who were from anon-Jewish, Greek culture. One of the themes of thisGospel-to-the-Greeks is that Jesus "came to what was his own, andhis own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, whobelieved in his name, he gave power to become children of God"(John 1:11-12).

It is, therefore, very significant that in today's passage thosewho ask Philip for an introduction to Jesus are themselves'Greeks'.

To Ponder

Jesus came for both the Jewish 'insiders' and theGreek 'outsiders'. Who are the religious insiders and outsiders inour own generation?

Those who opposed Christ were 'his own people'.How do those who call themselves Christians today ensure that theyare not working against Christ?

Philip is asked to show Jesus to people whoseculture is Greek, and John's Gospel endeavours to do this verything. How best can we show Jesus to the people of contemporaryculture(s) today?